Difficulty In Getting Only Mother's Name As Legal Guardian On PAN & Other Documents: Rajasthan High Court Takes Suo Moto Cognizance

The suo moto cognizance was taken by Justice Sameer Jain based on a report published in The Hindu on 08.03.2022 titled, "Want Mother's Name on Documents? Get ready for the runaround". The case was registered on Court's file on the International Women's Day i.e. 08.03.2022 and was thereby placed before the division bench of the High Court.

On 10.03.2022, the division bench granted three weeks' time to both Union and State government to file an affidavit indicating as to where and in what departments the names of mothers are mentioned and used as a practice.

Advocate Divyesh Maheshwari was appointed as amicus curiae by the court.

The Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Sameer Jain, observed,

"Having heard learned counsel for the parties, we are inclined to grant three weeks time to the learned Advocate General and learned Additional Solicitor General to facilitate filing of specific affidavits in the matter in the spirit of order passed on 08.03.2022 while taking suo motu cognizance in the matter."

The report covered the case of one Suvam who, as per the report, 'fought an embittered battle to get all his primary cards, which he is entitled to as an Indian citizen, printed with only his mother's name as the legal guardian'. As per the report, the PAN card was the last document which he was waiting for after facing multiple rejections.

It was stated in the report that Indian laws accord superiority to the father in case of guardianship of a minor.

The counsels appearing in the present matter include Mr. Divyesh Maheshwari, amicus curiae, Mr. M.S. Singhvi, AG with Mr. Pranav Bhansali, Mr. R.D. Rastogi, ASG and Mr. Siddharth Ranka.

Case Title: Suo Moto v. Union of India